Monday, June 03, 2013

Another Try at a Scientology Flick?

Hollywood news doesn't interest me much. But I did find this review of After Earth, Will Smith's new big-budget, high-expectation and Scientology-inspired film, of interest. You might be interested too as the review was written by Marc Headley, one of the increasing number of ex-Scientologists whose insider testimonies have shaken the religion to its volcanic core.

I grew up in Scientology and worked at their international Sea Organization headquarters for 15 years. In 2005, I managed a desperate escape, which only succeeded thanks to the local county authorities. I wrote about my experiences in my best-selling book, Blown For Good: Behind the Iron Curtain of Scientology.

Who better, then, to investigate the whole Scientology debate surrounding After Earth, the new sci-fi movie from M. Night Shyamalan starring Will and Jaden Smith, than a former Scientologist -- one who's received counseling from Tom Cruise himself? I am in no way “glib” on the subject; I’ve done the research.

I saw the movie After Earth and took notes on any parallels or “coincidental” similarities to Scientology teachings. While most of the movie involves following Jaden Smith’s character as he faces off against apes, a large, angry bird and a leech, (none of which have much to do with Scientology -- besides maybe the leech), most of the Scientology influences play out in the film’s dialogue...

Besides the film's dialogue and its direct similarities to Scientology teachings, there are also some other clues in After Earth that cannot be ignored.

The movie’s climax takes place on a volcano that could have been ripped right off the cover of Dianetics, the look is so similar. In Scientology, the volcano is a common thread through many different teachings. This image was used not only on the cover of Dianetics, but has also been used in many of Scientology’s TV ads over the years.

Then you have the intergalactic overlord Xenu who, in cahoots with the psychiatrists of the universe, imprisoned millions of souls, froze them and then dumped them into -- you guessed it -- Earth’s volcanoes. Of all the places in the galaxy! This is part of the upper-level teachings of Scientology that members only find out about after they’ve spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on Scientology counseling…

Few people know that Battlefield Earth, the film adaptation of Hubbard's novel produced by none other than famous Scientologist John Travolta, was meant to be a way to introduce Scientology to the masses. Even the story itself is a veiled reference to the story of Scientology versus the psychiatrists.

We all know how that turned out. Battlefield Earth is considered by many critics to be one of the worst films ever made. After watching After Earth, I would say that Battlefield Earth might have finally met its match.